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Is HR Ready for Your Firm to Grow?
Your efforts have implications. Don’t assume everyone is as prepared as you are.
By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great
“If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings – and put compensation as a carrier behind it – you don’t have to manage them … This whole game of business revolves around one thing: You build the best team, you win.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
Now that you are equipped with a strategic plan that is realistic and focused on implementation and accountability, and you have a sound governance and economic model, let’s chat about what else it takes to build a mid-market sustainable brand.
MORE by Domenick J. Esposito
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.
It begins by recognizing that all partners are not created equal. You need a combination of
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Rachel Anevski: Your Next Leader Will Not Develop by Accident | The Disruptors
Replace informal succession practices with trained mentors and measurable opportunities for growth.
This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Radical Pricing: Optimize Profits, Delight Clients, and Build a Top-Value Firm
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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr
For CPA Trendlines
For decades, accounting teams have assumed future leaders would emerge through the normal progression of the ranks. The best seniors would become managers, and the best managers would become partners, ready to step into the shoes of retiring leaders.
According to Rachel Anevski, that approach is no longer sustainable.
Anevski, president and CEO of Matters of Management and managing director of leadership and people at Winding River Consulting, says we must become far more intentional about training, mentoring, and retaining their next generation of leaders.
MORE Disruptors with Liz Farr | CPA Trendlines Streaming Network
As she describes in her book, Train Your Successor, the greatest weakness in the traditional model is its lack of deliberate preparation. The book’s title, inspired by her doctoral research on training and retention, comes from advice given by her first mentor, Ted Dudek.
“His talk to everyone was that retention and the future perpetuity of the firm were solely reliant on whether or not you could successfully train your successor,” Anevski tells The Disruptors host Liz Farr.
Win at M&A Without Overpaying
Seven tips for being a strong acquirer.
By Ira Rosenbloom
In today’s hyperactive CPA firm M&A market, buyers are circling many of the same opportunities. Private equity and alternative investors can often offer more cash but that doesn’t mean they always win – or that the highest offer does.
MORE by Ira Rosenbloom
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Securing the deal you want depends on the right ingredients for a strong outcome. Based on our knowledge of the success factors for winning, we offer the following recommendations – especially if you are a more traditional acquirer:
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Michael Hoover: Growth Without Discipline Comes at a Cost | Big 4 Transparency
Disciplined choices, talent investment, and cultural alignment matter more than chasing every opportunity.
This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special OfferSubscribe to CPA
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines
As private equity reshapes the accounting profession, Bennett Thrasher is making a different kind of bet. The top 100 firm intends to remain independent.
Michael Hoover, Bennett Thrasher’s chief growth and strategy officer, joins host Dominic Piscopo on The Big 4 Transparency Podcast to explain why the firm considers independence central to its growth strategy—and why saying no may be one of the most important disciplines a growing firm can develop.
MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation
“The biggest bet,” Hoover says, “is just remaining fiercely independent.”
That commitment shapes how Bennett Thrasher approaches everything from new service lines and acquisitions to recruiting and compensation. Rather than pursuing growth for its own sake, Hoover says the firm is working toward a long-term strategy for 2030 and scrutinizing whether each opportunity advances that vision.
In a market where firms are searching for new revenue streams, the temptation to pursue the latest “shiny object” can be powerful. But every new initiative consumes capital, leadership attention, and talent. Hoover argues that firms must examine not only an opportunity’s potential revenue, but also what they may have to postpone or abandon to pursue it.
Your Org Just Announced a Major Change. Now What? | Accounting Voices
Protect your credibility and career options by responding with calm, connection, and purpose.
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: Advisor Edition – See Today’s Special Offer
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Accounting Voices
With Rob Brown
An email arrives. A town hall appears on the calendar. Leaders begin using words such as “merger,” “sale,” “new ownership,” “restructuring,” or “strategic reset.”
Suddenly, the change that once felt theoretical becomes personal.For accounting professionals, these announcements can trigger immediate questions about job security, leadership, culture, client relationships, and the future of the organization. Some people freeze. Others panic, withdraw, overshare, or rush to update their LinkedIn profiles.
But this episode of Accounting Voices argues that change itself does not necessarily damage careers. How people respond to it often matters more.
As private equity investment, mergers, leadership turnover, technology pressures, and evolving business models reshape the profession, the ability to cope with uncertainty is becoming a career-defining skill. Professionals who remain composed, connected, and useful during periods of disruption can strengthen their reputations and create new opportunities.
The episode outlines four practical moves for navigating the days and weeks after a significant announcement.